Earth Heart – ‘Homesick’ (Track By Track)

New Album Homesick Is Out Now.

Boston, Massachusetts. The home of the Red Sox, Samuel Adams, a huge Irish diaspora, and DIY bedroom rock trio Earth Heart. They’ve only just released an album called Homesick. The record is a cathartic, lo-fi blast through ten songs which touch on fuzz up proto punk, alternative rock, and even a touch of surf rock. It’s an engaging and attention grabbing mix that slams, splashes and distorts its way through topics as diverse as the increase in spree shootings in the US, suicide fantasies, and family. A wonderfully abreactive affair, it seems as if singer/guitarist is Katie Coriander is blood letting rather than playing songs.

She took the time recently to take us through each track and explain their weird, wonderful, and sometimes dark origins.

‘Homesick’

The title track, written about urban exploration and squatting in abandoned buildings and foreclosed homes. Once upon a time I threw away all my worldly possessions, shaved my head, and went for a walk for 11 months. Then I did it again for 2 and a half years. Sometimes a strange, forgotten attic is more sympathetic than the false security of a nice warm apartment. There is poetry in living home free, it’s in the dust and the decay.

‘Burn’

Written as a b-side to ‘Homesick’, but is more about the anxiety and escapism than it is about poetry. They’re both songs for walking fast and dealing the despair of giving up on yourself and throwing everything away in battle a with disillusionment and mediocrity.

‘Demons’

It was Carl Jung who said, “People don’t have ideas, ideas have people,” and Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote a novel called The Possessed (aka Demons) wherein he illustrated the psychology driving the political revolution in 19th century Russia and predicted the rise of Stalinism. He said, “If you want to overcome the whole world, overcome yourself.” That’s what I was thinking about when we spontaneously wrote this song. I started doing the riff at practice, Matt played along on drums, and the words just came out seemingly of their own volition.

‘Iron Lung’

Was written in response to the 294th mass shooting in America in 2016. The first line is quoting president Obama saying, “It’s become routine…” I try to come to terms with the killing through this song. We are all made of star dust, born of explosions, maybe that explains why we want to blow ourselves and each other away. When I’m upset about something, I write. We all need to look after each other, take care of each other, and make sure nobody is alienated.

‘NSA’

Shortly after Edward Snowden released to wikileaks all the documents showing how the government was in fact spying on us and our allies, I wanted to write a straight-forward pop song just to see if I could. I was thinking about warrentless wiretapping, so I tried to illustrate the NSA as a paranoid partner in an abusive relationship while channeling the ghost of Buddy Holly.

‘Tom Doesn’t Care’

‘Fire Song’

It’s a suicide fantasy and the oldest song on this album. I’ve often thought about killing myself. I’ve come up with a number of ways to do it. I always want to take care of the body I leave behind and make sure nobody finds it. Burying myself in the desert or tossing myself in the ocean are two classic favourites.

‘Providence’

I originally wrote this on my baritone ukulele while waiting for the train to take me from Boston to Providence, Rhode Island. I was going to look at a room because I needed to move to make a change in my lifestyle for my health and wellbeing. I was nervous about going but I knew it was the right thing to do. I needed the room very much and I’m glad I ended up getting it.

‘Mario’

I’ve always been competitive when it comes to playing video games, especially when I was a kid. I would do almost anything to win, which is what this song is about. It’s about ruthless competition and resorting to dirty tricks. My little brother and I used to be close but I haven’t seen him in years, with this song I recall the good times I used to have kicking his ass in Super Mario Brothers. I’d get pretty upset if I made a mistake or if I lost, I’ve chilled out a lot over time but there’s a reason I still avoid video games. They bring out the worst in me.

‘Chicken and Rice’

Evolved over the course of the first two years of playing together, it used to be unstructured and was different every time we played it. I think of it as food left in the fridge that turned into a science project because it started to grow its own ecosystem. That’s how this song grew, like mold in a tupperware left in the back of the fridge for a year. It’s still evolving but it’s more structured now than ever.

Jamie Coughlan is the founder of Overblown. He talks a lot about himself and is totally pretentious. Terrible with personal finances. Loves beer gardens. He has written for the RTE Guide, A Music Blog, Yea?, The Thin Air, Gigwise, and is a contributor to The Tipping Point.

Overblown is all about subterreanean music. We aim to champion bands and record labels that we are passionate about and are overlooked and undervalued by the mainstream media machine, while still paying homage to the iconic bands and labels who laid and developed the groundwork for today’s emerging talent.